Supporting bracket



June 30, 1959 F. E. OLSON 2,892,207

SUPPORTING BRACKET Filed April 22, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 1 If g 2 Inventor,

Frzitz'of Olson,

A t 'ys.

J 30, 1959 F. E. OLSON 2,892,207

SUPPORTING BRACKET vFiled. April 22, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I. l' i 2 2";

Inventor, Irz'iz'of 1'1 Olson June 1959 F. E. OLSON 2,892,207

SUPPORTING BRACKET Filed April 22, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 v In mentor; l4 2 i'ra'tz'of E Olson,

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2,892,207 Patented June 30, 1959 United States Patent Ofiice 2,892,207 SUPPORTING BRACKET I Fritiof E. Olson, Wellesley, Mass.

Application April 22, 1954, Serial No. 424,919

' 1 Claim. ((11.15-268) The present invention relates to a supporting bracket for adjustable attachment to a longitudinal elementsuch as one or'both of the upright rails of a ladder.

One or two pairs of brackets of the present invention may be used and they are attached to the side --railsof a ladder -or they may be attached' totwo separate'rails, such as two two byffours, spaced apart and supported in the side rails of a ladder which is shown in phantom;

a pair of substantially vertical flanges; 17 which extend generally vertical or upright position by leaning them Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is an end elevation looking from left to right at Fig. 9; and

. Fig. 11 is a section on the lines 11,11 of Fig. 8.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings, the bracket indicated generally by the numeral 10 comprises a sheet metal member ll and the rod 12.

'j-The main body sheet metal member 11 is provided with substantially at right angles to the member 11 adjacent to, the rear thereof and when the bracket is set up for use the faces 14a of these flangesmay abut or engage the front side 15a of the side rail 15 of a ladder. The side rail 15 is rectangular in cross section with faces 15a and 150 at the front and back respectively and 15b and 15d at the sides. The rungs of the ladder are indicated at 13. It will be appreciated that the brackets of the present invention may be used equally well with any pair of longi-' tudinal upright elements, for example, a pair of two by fours leaning against the side of a building. 7

The corners 16 of the flanges 17 are bent over and provide sharp projections extending rearwardly from the faces 14a'and these projections dig into the'adjacent side 15a of the side rail 15 and prevent relative movement of the faces 14a and the side 15a when the bracket 10 is attached for use. At the top and bottom of the main body member 11 the substantially horizontal flanges 18 and 19 are bent I sub's't'a'ntially'at right angles to said member and the space the upper portion of the article forwardly from the I uprights to prevent marring or runningof paint applied to the articlef 1 In another embodiment of the present invention a single bracket is securedbetween the two uprights or rails. V

-' Brackets embodying thepresent invention'aresimple to attachto the side rails of an ordinary ladder or step ladder and they grip the side rails and provide a solid support for the article to be paintedlor'cleaned. They are *sim'p'leand sturdy in construction, small. in size so that they'req'uire' little storage'sp ace and are handy to'carryaroiind'to various jobs. They facilitate the'work of cleaning or painting sashes, screens, blinds or the like byadap'ting any common type of ladder to support the work in a convenient working position They are also" economical to manufacture and easy to assemble. V f

Further qbjects-and advantages of the present invention will be-appar eiit from thefollowing description and accs panyi g drawingsfin which:

"*Fig. l -is a perspe'cave view partly in phantcni' illustrat- =,Fig'.w- 4. is ,a Televation illustrating one arfr'oin theopposite side face-1841 of the flange 18provides the support for the weight of the'sash-33 (Figs.'4 and 5). The flangesi27 form sloped walls at the rear of the support faces 18a and19a.' p

" Parallel flanges 21"and 22 are provided at the forward and rear ends of the main body member 11 and they ex tend substantially at right angles thereto. The transverse perforations 23 and 24 slidably receive the rodlZ. The portion 25 of the main 'body member- 11 extends rearwardly of the face14d and it serves as a guide by rangeir entlofthe brackets of Fig. 1 on the two side rails are la d adsu poru asash, which is: shown in rhn iipi .J

Fig. 5 is a section on the lines. 5-.- 5, of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a partial front elevation showing another arrangenient,of.the...top pair of brackets of Fig. 1 arranged 1o'lSpace--;the top portion of-a-sash forwardly fromthe side rails of a ladder;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation looking from left to right at Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of another embodiment of abutting the side 15]; of the side piece 15 (see Figs. 2 and 3). W

The rear end of the rod 12 is bent at substantially a right angle to form a hook 26 which engages the rear side 15c of the rail 15 to detachably secure the bracket 10 to the rail 15. The inner surface of the hook 26 is roughened as by screw threading in order to provide a roughened gripping surface toward the side 15c.

One end of the rod 12 extends forwardly of the flange 21and is screw threaded as shown. A wing nut 28 is interiorly threaded for engagement with thescrew threads ofthero d. By tightening the wing nut 28 the rod 12 is 'slid'fo'rwardly through the perforations 2 3 and 2'4 and this causes the hook 26 to move toward the flange 17 so that the rail 15 is gripped betweenthe'hook and the flanges 17, thus firmly securing the supporting flangef18 tothe rail '15 in proper position to support the bottom of a window or other object. If the faces 14a of the flanges 17 are provided with prongs 16, they are forced into the sides 15a of the rail by the same operation.

A metal strap member 29 is pivotallymounted ,adjacent to the front of the flange 21 by extending the rod 12' through the perforation 30 in the strap member so that it is carried on the rod 12 between the flange 21 and the washer 31 rearwardly of the wing nut 28. The ends of the strap member 29 are made long enough to eittend beyond 'the'faces 18a an'd 19a of'the'flanges .18 511619" and they form abutments at the forward ends o f the faces 18a and 19a when the strap member is adjusted to the substantially vertical position shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and the wing nut is tightened to hold the strap memberin that position. As shown, the ends of the strap member 29 are bent to provide loops 32.

Figs. 4 and 5 show a storm sash 33 supported by the brackets and while the subsequent description will be- Nvith particular reference to such a sash, it will be understood that the article supported by the brackets 10 is not material to the present invention andthe'brackets may be used to support any object without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In use the supporting faces 18a of the bottom pair of brackets 10 are first secured to the side rails of the ladder so that the sash will be supported at a convenient height as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The strap members 29 ofthe bottom pair of brackets are then rotated and secured in their vertical positions to later prevent the bottom edge 34 of the sash from being jarred forwardly from the faces 18a. The handle 35 of a paint bucket 36 may be supported from one of the loops 32 if desired;

An upper pair of brackets 10 is then attached to the side rails 15 of the ladder at positions so that they will be above the upper edge 37 of the sash 33 and so that the upper edge of the sash will be closely adjacent the lower faces 19a of the flanges 19. The sash 33 is then positioned on the flanges 18 of the lower brackets and the upper edge 37 rests against the flanges 27 which space the upper end of the sash forwardly of the side rails of the ladder. The upper strap members 29 are then rotated to the vertical positions shown and the upper wing nuts are further tightened to securely hold them in such positions. They-now extend below the upper edge 37 of the sash and they prevent the sash from tipping or blowing forwardly and thus falling away from the lower pair of brackets.

To remove the sash it is merely necessary to loosen the upper wing nuts sufliciently so that the upper strap members may be rotated to horizontal positions.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the top pair of brackets arranged in a different manner so as to space the top edge 37 of the sash away from all surfaces (in Figs. 4 and 5 it engages the surfaces of the flanges 27). In this way the front and back faces of the sash may be painted and they will'not be marred by engagement with any surface while drying. For this purpose the top pair of brackets 10are attached lower down on the side rails of the ladder than in Figs. 4 and 5 and with the faces 14a-of the flanges 17 toward the outer sides 15b of the respective siderails 15 of the ladder. Thus, the main body portions 11 of the top brackets extend laterallyfrom the sides of the ladder as shown in Fig. 6. The strap members 29 'are rotated to positions in which one end of each strap member projects forwardly from the main body portion 11 and engages a pane of glass as shown in Fig. 7. The bottom edge 34 of the sash 33 is still supported by a lower pair of brackets as before, but at the top portion of the sash the panes of glass 39 in the sash rest against ends of the strap members 29and the wooden portions of the sash are thus located forwardly of all surfaces.

In Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 1 1, a second embodiment 10a of the bracket is shown. It comprises a supporting member111 which is attached to both side rails 15 of a ladder'by' a pair'of rods 12. The rods 12 and associated parts which attachthe bracket 10a to the side rails 15 are substantially the same structurally and functionally as in the first embodiment. In this instance the supporting member 111 is a long piece of sheet metal formed to have an'inverted U-shaped cross section with a vertical flange '114 at the rear and a vertical flange 121 at the front; The rods 12 'are slidably supported in the transverse perforations 123 and 124. A plurality of laterally spaced perforations 123 and 124 are provided so that the rods 12 may be spaced apart different distances to accommodate ladders of different widths and also so that the bracket may be located at different elevations on a ladder, the side rails of which converge from bottom to top as is customary.

The top surface of the engagement member 111 is provided with spaced ridges 118 and the bottom of the sash rests upon these ridges. Tabs 127 are bent upwardly from the top surface 'ofthe supporting member 111 and they provide'walls above the level of the supporting ridges 118 at the rear of the supporting member 111. The tabs 129' are struck up at the front to provide front walls. The tabs 129 at the front function as the latch members 29 of the first embodiment to hold the bottom of the sash against forward displacement.

The flange 114 provides the engagement portion 114a which engages the side 15a of the side rails 15 of a ladder and cooperates with the hooks 26 to grip the side rails 15 when-the wing nuts 28 are tightened causing the rods '12 to slide forwardly relative to the flanges 114 and 121.

The tab 132 is struck out of the front flange 121 in the shape of a loop to support the handle 35 of a bucket 36.

It will be appreciated that the above description is of two preferred embodiments-of brackets of the present invention and that the substitution of equivalent elements may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is set forth in the following claim.

I claim:

A supporting bracket for attachment to an upright rail at any selected point therealong comprising a body member having a substantially vertical engagement member at its rearward side for engaging the forward face of such a railja substantially horizontal, forwardly extending, substantially fiat supporting member, the a surface of which is substantially horizontal and substantially perpendicular to the rearward side of said engagement member and a substantially vertical rod mounting member substantially parallel to said engagement member, projecting laterally thereof and having a transverse passage formed therein, the axis of said passage being offset laterally from the engagement portion of the engagement member, a rod slidably mounted in-said passage with its longitudinal axis substantially perpendicular to said rod mounting. member, whereby a portion of said rod, without passing through the rail, extends rearwardly from a point adjacent to one side of the engagement portion of said engagement member and along a side face of the rail when the forward face of the rail is engaged by said engagement portion, a hook on the rearward portion of said rod extending at an angle thereto for engaging the rearward face of the rail, and means engageable with the forward 'end of said rod for slidably moving said rod through said passage and for causing said engagement portion and said hook portion to grip said rail therebetween.

References' Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 621,172 Stikeman -1 Mar. 14, 1899 788,035- Fergusson Apr. 25, 1905 936,254 Parsons s Oct. 5, 1909 1,072,756 Meyercord Sept. 9, 1913 2,192,521 McGaw Mar. 5, 1940 2,457,290 Welsh -1 Dec. 28, 1948 2,565,014 Beaty -1 Aug. 21, 1951 2,662,714 Jenne Dec. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 492,790 France Apr. 2, 1919 I 1,012,396 France July 9, 1952 

